The Geopolitics of the Yemen War during the Corona Pandemic

Abstract

This article addresses the geopolitics of Bab-al-Mandeb in the war on Yemen, which began in 2015 and continues to this day, in the context of a global pandemic. It makes the hypothesis that securing Bab-al-Mandeb is fundamental for US imperialism. For reasons to do with its global hegemony, the United States cannot permit another force, specifically the Houthis of Yemen, to exercise control over Bab-al-Mandeb. Although many reasons could account for the senseless war, the security of Bab-al-Mandeb-a strategic chokepoint of trade and oil flows-over-determinedly (as in an Althusserian concept) explains the war's continuity. © 2020 University of California Press. All rights reserved.